Our Past: Last run of ‘Green Diamond’

The final run of Illinois Central’s St. Louis to Chicago “Green Diamond” is passing through Glen Carbon near the old mine rescue station on May 19, 1968. The next day it will be renamed the “Governor’s Special” and will operate only between Chicago and Springfield. These tracks are now the Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail.

Submitted by David Novak

This day in history:

1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

1963 – The first push-button telephone goes into service.

1970 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.

1988 – War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.

1993 – In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is approved by the House of Representatives.

1996 – A fire occurs on a train traveling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel.

2003 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4–3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180 days to change the law making Massachusetts the first state in the United States to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples.

2013 – NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars.

The final run of Illinois Central’s St. Louis to Chicago “Green Diamond” is passing through Glen Carbon near the old mine rescue station on May 19, 1968. The next day it will be renamed the “Governor’s Special” and will operate only between Chicago and Springfield. These tracks are now the Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail.

http://www.thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_November-18.jpgThe final run of Illinois Central’s St. Louis to Chicago “Green Diamond” is passing through Glen Carbon near the old mine rescue station on May 19, 1968. The next day it will be renamed the “Governor’s Special” and will operate only between Chicago and Springfield. These tracks are now the Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail. Submitted by David Novak

If you would like to submit a photo to suggest for ‘Our Past’ send it to ‘TELeditorial@civitasmedia.com’ or send to: The Telegraph,P.O.Box 278, Alton, IL, 62035. Identify the photo with background information such as who, what, when and where.

If you would like to submit a photo to suggest for ‘Our Past’ send it to ‘TELeditorial@civitasmedia.com’ or send to: The Telegraph,P.O.Box 278, Alton, IL, 62035. Identify the photo with background information such as who, what, when and where.